I was busy most of the day and didn’t get to work on the van until after 3:00. But I still put in almost three hours. I started by gluing the second, and last, piece of backsplash onto the countertop. The first piece held great with just glue, so I think that is all I’ll need to do for the second piece as well. I’ll keep it clamped overnight to let the glue set.
I spent the rest of my time today working on the cabinet for the microwave. This cabinet will go above the galley at the ceiling to the van. It is challenging, because the wall of the van slopes inward toward the ceiling and the ceiling slopes down toward the wall. Nothing is square in a van, but the upper cabinet location is the worst.
While I had a design based on the actual dimensions of the microwave, I needed to do some work inside the van to see if the sloping wall and ceiling would affect that design. I made a simple “C” shaped fabrication out of aluminum extrusion and bolted it to the upper unistrut where the microwave cabinet will go. Then I used my digital level to determine what modifications I needed to make to my cabinet design. The digital level is a great tool, because you can set zero on it and it will tell you the angle based on that relative measure. So, I set zero to be the floor of the van, then ensured that my “C” shaped fabrication was level with the floor before taking the other measures that I needed. I’m confident that the cabinet will fit and be sized big enough for the microwave.
With the updated design for the microwave cabinet, I then worked to cut, drill, and tap threads into all the aluminum extrusions that were required for the cabinet. I put together about 75% of the cabinet frame with the fasteners that I had. But, I couldn’t finish it because I’m still waiting for the other fasteners that I need. here is what the frame of the cabinet looks like (with some of the fasteners missing).
It is shorter in the back where it meets the wall of the van and taller in the front where the ceiling is higher. That is as far as I got today. I’ll work on the wood panels for this cabinet next.
I traded emails with the company that I ordered the fasteners I need to complete a lot of the work I’ve started over the last week. They said that they are backed up and my order won’t ship until the end of the week. They said it would take a week for me to receive the shipment. That is too long for me, so I’m going to continue to try to expedite them. I’m also going to try to source them from another company that can deliver them faster. Otherwise, I’ll run out of things to do long before they arrive.